The wet weekend in Nelson and Marlborough

 Hi,

What a weekend. Mike and I left Wellington at 2am on the Bluebridge ferry. We had a cabin booked - as did a lot of people. But the cabin was perfect for a sleep as we drifted across the strait to Picton. Nice and clean and warm. I had a shower just before we tucked ourselves in (good water pressure - tiny space with a clingy shower curtain).  

Up at 5am to head down to the car for our 6am arrival. And we were driving through rain and surface flooding to Blenheim nice and early.

Got to Iona and Col's place in the dark, so I couldn't really see the new garage easily.  But Iona had cooked up some amazing scrambled eggs and they had got in some Lewis Road iced coffee for me. Mmmm.

We chatted away to Iona and Col to hear about the garage fun and what their weekend plans were. Iona was heading south for a rogaine event. Col was heading to work later in the day.

I got Lewis Rd in Blenheim - thank you

Blenheim backyard

We left Blenheim around 8.20am ish.  The roads were starting to close so we had to go through Renwick and the Rai Valley was already called out as a spot to be careful for flooding.  We had a lot of surface water to negotiate to get to Havelock and the paddocks were quite flooded. We got into Havelock at 8.45am and Mike decided to charge the car at the 4 square in case we were delayed in queues through to Nelson.

There was a faff to get hooked up because the 4 square is sealing their car park.  Mike had to reach the cable across a fence to get into the car. But eventually, in the rain, he got the car charging. Yay. We popped into the cafe not far from Barb's house. As we got our coffees the owner was keeping us all abreast of closures.

Problem? What problem

The Rai valley closed.  Oh.  And then the Wairau valley closed. So no way to Nelson. And then there was commentary around the road back to Blenheim getting closed. So we got our coffee transferred to a takeaway cup and fled. Unhooked the car and headed back.

Oh

Yeah

Col was probably not surprised to see us back at her place. Iona got her stuff ready - they did some messages (Twigg to the vet etc). And we sat and watched TV all day.

Back in Blenheim

Iona headed south with Nicola and their friend Andrea. Col went to work. And we sat there, with Twigg. Hahah. Did go to PacknSav to charge the car. Bought some stuff at Mountain Warehouse. Ate at Catalyst.

After a good long sleep (still tired from the 2am ferry I reckon) we went for a walk with Col and Twigg to survey the flooding.

Let's check out the flooding

Mighty tree in Pollard Park

Submerged bridges

Okay - Taylor River is huge

We tried to rescue at wee dead eel stuck in a grate. But once we pulled it out, it was obvious it had died.

Everything is underwater

Looking upstream

High tide mark

No park run  - it is well underwater

The road opened up again so we left to go to Nelson. Got through without any drama. We were going to meet the real estate agent Friday to see the house. Told her we couldn't get through. The campground said they would give us a credit for Friday night. 

As we came in Saturday we decided to go straight to the house and examine the outside. All looked good. And as we peered in a window, I tried the sliding door. And it was open. So we inspected the inside thoroughly. It is empty - new tenants coming soon.

Nelson is sunny after the deluge

Mike enjoys the view

House is empty

There were not too many issues with the house. Mike told the real estate people what needs to get fixed. 

We headed to Tahunanui campground and got diverted into Britannica Heights to avoid a slip on the coast road.

Checked in and they refunded me for Friday night. Awww - thank you.

The SH6 around the coast is slipping

Skull Island

Skull island

Went for a walk to check out the slip. The cliff was just oozing and a bit of dirt had landed on the road. Walked back by Sprig and Fern and enjoyed dinner there.

Up Sunday for a run. We went along the beach (nice firm sand) and I spotted intact sanddollars. Wow! Only seen broken ones washed up before on Kapiti.

Sunday run

Yeah - Nelson is nice

Sandollars - intact!

There were a few of them in a patch of sand

Underside of a sanddollar - related to sea urchins I think

We checked the slip out - another part had let go and the entire road was shut. Oh dear.  We checked out and went to Richmond to visit the Gear Shop and Ambrosia cafe. Our car charged at the Richmond library while we shopped and ate.

Iced coffees

Gear Shop

Ambrosia cafe in Richmond

Then back to Blenheim. Poked our noses in at Pelorus. 

Pelorus

Roads still closed in Marlborough - Jackson Rd

Taylor River late Sunday

You need gumboots to explore - everything is sodden

Still a lot of water

Went for a walk with Iona and Col to see the Taylor river. It had dropped a lot - but still a lot of flooding. We saw a dead eel - probably the same one. Half eaten - probably birds.

Back to Iona and Col's house. We got some soup to take - yay! And then we headed to our ferry at 5.20pm. Early for the check in. And the ferry was delayed. We didn't get on until 8pm. In our cabin by 8.30pm. Mike slept well but I did not. Huge swells in the strait. My water bottle was moving on the table. Hahah.

Back home by 1am. Cats were happy to see us. Into bed. 

By the numbers:

Where	When	Start	End	Duration	Rate (c/kWh)	Cost	kWh
Havelock 4 Square	27-Jun-2025	08:53	09:11	00:18	$0.85	$5.02	5.9
Blenheim Pak'nSave	27-Jun-2025	14:23	15:17	00:54	$0.90	$17.07	19.0
Richmond Library	29-Jun-2025	10:24	11:20	00:56	$0.80	$22.56	28.2
Blenheim Hub Chargenet	29-Jun-2025	14:07	14:30	00:23	$0.70	$9.36	13.4
TOTAL	4			02:31		$54.01	66.4

419.6 km

8h 5m driving time

4 charges

2h 31m charging time

66.44  kWh charged (82.66 kWh total)

$54.01 charging fees

Plus RUC ($76.00/1000km) $31.89 = total cost $85.90

Versus the Forester, at $2.57/L for 95 petrol, would have cost $107.84

Hard to get up this morning. Terrible news about the flooding coming in. Someone died when they went to check floods. Waaaah.

I am heading back to Marlborough this Friday - along with more rain due to hit them then too. Hopefully things dry out before then.

Have a great week.

Love,

Angela

The weekend with around the vines

 Hi,

Welcome back to Wellington, Sally! Woot! Hope Samoa was fruitful with lots of good mahi done. I note Wellington is turning on the weather for your return. Or not. Yeah - today is a high of 12C and rainy and windy. Hmmmm.

We had a great weekend in Martinborough. I was unsure if I should go with a scratchy throat on Friday. Was it going to get worse and I would be spluttering over people? Snotty nose? Well... no. I did get a wee bit of a cough in bed, and my throat was sore in the mornings. But really, it seems to be just staying like that. So I guess that is good. But I will keep myself at home as much as I can until I see what is happening with it.

Made date loaf Friday

We left on Friday afternoon after Mike's work finished. Talk about a crawl up SH2. The new bike paths from the Hutt to Wellington can't come soon enough. I reckon a lot of punters will start using it. And some of that traffic snarl might ease. Maybe.

Got to our accommodation in the Top10 at Martinborough very fast once we cleared the Hutt traffic. Callan and Stacey had arrived too. Mike got me some food from the 4 square and I settled into our cabin happily to eat that and read.

Smudge relaxes in the sun

Moxley loves the sunshine too

Mike was very relaxed about walking 21 km and slept like a baby. I had a terrible sleep with a little bit of coughing. But luckily I was not racing in anything the next day!

Village Cafe iced latte - very milky

We walked into town early for brekkie and coffees. Village Cafe is still going strong. Lovely customer service too. Thank you. My iced latte was very milky though - which on another day might have been nice. But I didn't finish it.

Lolly allocation

My milky iced latte 

We met Callan and Stacey in the square and they had their 9am briefing. Then 9.15 came and they were off. The drizzly rain meant Mike grabbed my jacket just before they left. Probably a good thing as it was showery off and on for a while yet.

Callan winders why Mike is posing

And he looks away!

They are ready for it

So ready!

Approaching start line - Mike now in my green jacket

And go!

Off into the 21 km walk

Mike's Glympse was not working at all. So I had to guess when they might be close to the Top10 and I walked over to the school to spot them. Turns out Mike was sampling all the wine so they were a tad slower than I calculated.

Stacey made sure the second loop was much faster!

Approaching halfway

Off they stride to the 9km mark

And 2 km left to walk

Approaching the finish line - Mike determined to overtake that kid!

And done!

Happy to drink some water

Awww - a lovely pic under the tree

After the event, we went back to our respective accommodation places to shower. Then Mike went out to fins Callan and Stacey. They enjoyed cocktails and desserts at Tonic.

Then they got BBQ stuff and came back to the Top10 for a dinner cooked there. Very pleasant sitting out at the picnic BBQ area.

The women's rugby started (Black Ferns v England in the WXV decider) and I watched it on my phone. Callan and Stacey were very accommodating of my intention to watch it all. Second half we adjourned to our cabin to watch the rest of it.

Stacey wanted to see some fireworks in the park next to the Top10, so they left. The rugby was a foregone conclusion by then anyway. England were far too strong and clean with their skills for the Black Ferns. Showed the coach has a lot of work to do to make them competitive.

Off to bed not long after that and a far better sleep for me. Up to pack up and leave and Cafe Medici for brekkie. Callan and Stacey joined us. 8am was empty there - but by 8.45am it was full and very busy.

Brekkie at Cafe Medici

It was bright inside!

Lovely delicious brekkie. Mmmm.  Said goodbye to Callan and Stacey and headed home. After giving the cats some love, we went up to try and dismantle the dashboard to get to the evaporator. It has got a leak and we were quoted $2k to replace it. But the bulk of that work was removing and replacing the dashboard. So Mike wondered if he could do that bit.

Back home and the dashboard work

A lot of fiddling

He is so clever. We got stuck - but he could almost get into the evaporator. So he put it all back and then did more research. Now he thinks he can do it. Maybe we can try next weekend!

Moxley looking cute

We watched a movie on Netflix. A lost city. Silly film with Sandras Bullock and Channing Tatum. But it made me laugh a bit. So - all good.

Good sleep. Up to WFH today.

Week stretches out ahead of us. Hope your week is a good one.

Love,

Angela